Tone-arm for talking-machines.



P. CATUCCI. TONE ARM FOR TALKING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9.1915.

Patented Dec 25, 1917.'

% IM ENTOR. BY I QTTORNEYfi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PLINY CATUGCI, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

OTTO HEINEMAN PHONOGBAPH SUPPLY (10., INCL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPO- RATION OF NEW YORK.

TONE-ARM F03 TALKING-MACHINES.

Application filed. November 9,1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PLINY OATUGoI, a citizen of the United States, and residing in the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of'New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tone-Arms for Talking-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In modern practice in the manufacture of talking machines, it is quite common to permit' the entire weight of the swinging tone arm and sound box to rest, through the me dium of the needle, upon a record disk. This overhanging weight varies according to the make and structure of the tone arm and sound box. Some manufacturers consider that a heavy sound box willproduce'better results than one of lighter weight; the result is that there is no uniformity in the weight of the parts which are supported by the reproducing needle. It is obvious, therefore, that a heavy sound box and tone arm will have a greater frictional drag upon the surface of the record, with the corresponding excess of wear in the sound grooves than would be found were a lighter sound box and tone arm used.

The purpose of my present invention is to provide a tone arm for talking machines with means for adjustably relieving the sound box' needle of a portion, or all of the weight of the tone arm, and a portion of the weight of the sound box, so that the pressure upon the surface of the record through the sound box needle may he very materially relieved and the life of the record correspondingly prolonged. The tone arm also-embodies a novel form of construction in the swinging or swivel bearing of the tone arm with the stationary sleeve support therefor. It also ,is provided with detachable sound box tubes of a character to permit the same sound box to be used in connection with either the so called Berlinerrecords, or the so called Edison .records,.that.is to say,records wherein the sound groove is a zig-zag spiral of uniform depth, or where the record groove is a spiral of varying depth.

lln carrying out my invention, 1 make use of the structure substantially as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Figure 1, is a plan view of a complete Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

Serial No. 60,479.

tone arm as constructed and ready for attachment to a talking machine case.

Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3, is a vertical end elevation.

Fig. 4:, is a full' sized vertical section on line H of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5, is a view of the tonearm detached from the swivel support.

Fig. 6, is a corresponding view of the swivel elbow showing the location of the stop-slot.

Fig. 7, is a detached view of a sound box tube for use with so called Edison records.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

The tone arm proper consists essentially of the three parts, namely,the supporting bearing 1, the elbow section 2, and the.

tone arm section 3. The supporting member 1 consists of a tube, having its lower and slightly in-turned as at 4, and its upper marginal edge beveled at an angle of degrees, as at 5. I may also rovide a circumferential bead as at 6, which serves not only to ornament the device, but. also to stifi'en the bearing support. The flange member 7 consists of a disk with a central opening and an lip-turned flange, as 8, by

which it is secured to the external surface of the tubular member 1. The elbow memher 2 consists of a casting as-9, having its lower end provided with a reduced portion as 10, into which is inserted the reduced tubular end 11, of the conduit 12. The upper reduced end 11 of this conduit is rigidly secured to the interior of the elbow extension 10, and when in the position illustrated in Fig. 4, the lower end of the conduit l2 neatly, fits the in-turned end 41 of the supporting tube 1. The upper inclined margin 5, of the tubular member 1, fits the corresponding shoulder upon the casting 9.

In order to hold the parts together, I provide the conduit 12 with a circumferential slot 13, into which extends a screw 14:, which is rigidly secured in position by screwing the same through the flanged portion of the disk 7, and through the tubular This method firmly secures ing the rod 18, both against withdrawal .arm 3, of a and also against rotation. Mounted upon the rod 18 is a collar 23, rigidly secured thereto, and upon said collar is rigidly connected one end of a coiled spring 24, said coiled spring embracing the rod 18 to a 'point adjacent to the bearing portions 15 and 16 ofthe castings 9 and 17. The free end of the spring 25 is then carried radially outward through an aperture in the bearing 16, extending slightly beyond the circumferential surface of the same into a slot 26, which latter is cut into the bearing 16 of the casting 9. The head 19 of the rod 18, is knurled so as to afford a good hand-hold, and when thescrew 21 is slightly released, the spring 24 may be put under a gheater or lesser tension as desired, through t e medium of the head 19. When the desired tension is obtained the screw 21 may again be set home and thus the rod 18 will be rigidly held in place.

In order to relieve the overhanging tone ortion of its weight and also of the weig t of the sound box secured thereon, the tension in the spring 24 is such as to give thetone arm a normal bias upward, as in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2. As above indicated, this .dicular with the normal bias may be adjusted to any deee within the limits of the spring 24, or If desired for any reason whatsoever, the bias may be reversed and the normal tendency of the tone arm 3 may be made to bear more heavily upon a record.-

The elbow casting 17 is provided. with the usual tubular extension 27, said tubular-extension being provided with a positioning slot 28, to receive a in 29, upon'the sound box elbow tube 30. he sound'box 31 may be of any usual or preferred type.

When Berliner records are used in a talking machine in connection with my tone arm, as above indicated, the elbow tube 30 is used, and the sound box 31 18 located with the plane of its diaphragm perpenplane of the record disk, but where a record of the Edison type is used, the elbow tube 32 is substituted for the elbow tube 31, so that the plane of the diaphragm in the sound box shall intersect the plane of the disk at an angle of about 45 degrees. It requires, therefore, only the change of the sound box elbow tubes 30 and 32 in order to play any of the disk records now on the market.

The particular form of swivel bearing for the swinging tone arm, as shown in detail in Fig. 4, possesses many advantages, for example, the lower in-turned end 4 of the supporting member 1, aflords a very efficient bearing for the lower end of the swiveling conduit 12. The casting 9 being provided with a beveled shoulder for engagement with the beveled edge 5 of the supporting member 1, makes the device self centering, and when in operation, the lateral swin of .the tone arm 3 meets with substantially no frictional drag and consequently there is no rattle among the parts.

. By hitherto indicated, any degree of pressure within the limits of the device may be brought to bear upon the record through the stylus needle. This pressure may be, as above indicated, just within the limits of the spring 24. The carrying of the end of the spring 25 out through an aperture in the extension bearing 16.-into the slot 26, of the casting 9, serves as an eflicient means for limiting the upward swing of the tone arm 3 under the influence of the spring 24.

It might be thought that the introduction of the rod 18, and the spring 24, into the sound passage would interfere in some way with the sound waves; in practice, however, I find that there is no diminution in volume nor variation in tone over that coming from a tone arm \in which there is no rod such as 18.

From the description it will be readily seen that the tone arm 3 may swing in a horizontal plane about the vertical axis of the supporting member 1, and at the same time it may swing in a vertical plane about the rod 18, which is the common axis of the two mating elbows 9 and 17. By properly adjusting the tension of the spring 24, the tone arm may be given a normal upward bias, as hitherto indicated, against the action of gravity upon said tone arm and sound box. This upward bias may be made suflicient to relieve either wholly or partially, the record tablet of the weight of the sound box and overhanging tone arm. The ends of the slot 26 serve to limit the oscillation of the tone arm through the extremity of the spring 25, where it protrudes through the bearing 15 into the slot 26. Q

It will thus be seen that I have accomplished the objects set forth, in a structure at once simple and not likely to disarrangement in ordinary use.

I claim:

1. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a pair of mating elbow castings having a common horizontal axis, means for securmg said castings together to permit properly adjusting the spring 24, as

titl

normal bias in the upward direction, and

one of them to oscillate upon the other about their common axis in a vertical plane, and means for giving the oscillating elbow a constant normal bias inthe upward direction.

2. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a pair of mating elbow castings having a common horizontal axis, a connecting rod passing through said elbows in their common axis, about which one of said elbows may oscillate in a vertical plane, and meansfor giving said oscillating elbow a constant normal bias in the upward direction.

3. In a tone arm for talking machines,'the combination of a pair of mating elbows hav-' ing a common horizontal axis, means for securing said elbows together to permit one of them to oscillate upon the other about their common axis, and resilient means for giving said oscillating elbow a constant normal biasin the upward direction.

4. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a pair of mating elbows, havin a common horizontal axis, a connecting rod passing through said elbows in their common axis, about which one of said elbows may oscillate in a vertical plane, and resilient means for giving said oscillatin elbow a constant normal bias in the upward direction.

5. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a pair of mating rectangular elbows having a common horizontal axis, a connecting rod passing through the common axis of said elbows about'which they may relatively oscillate in a vertical plane, a spring connecting said rod to one of said elbows, and means for adj ustably and rigidly securing said rod to the other elbow to adjust the tension of said spring to give said elbows a constant normal oscillatory bias in the upward direction.

6. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a pair of mating elbow castings having a common horizontal axis, means for securing said castings together to permit one of them to oscillate upon the other about their common axis in a vertical plane, means for giving the oscillating elbow a constant means for limiting the degree of said oscil lation.

7. In a tone arm for talking machines, thecombination of a pair of mating elbow castings having a common horizontal axis, a connecting rod passing through said elbows in their common axis, about which one of said elbows .may oscillate in a vertical plane, means for giving said oscillating elbow a constant normal bias in the upward direction, and means for limiting the degree of said oscillation,

8. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a pair of mating elbows hav- 9. In a tone arm for talking machines,

the combination of a pair of mating elbows havmg a common horizontal axls, a connecting rod passing through said elbows in their common axis, about which one of said elbows may oscillate in a vertical lane, resilient means for giving said oscil ating elbow a constant .normal bias in the upward direction, and means for limiting the degree of said oscillation.

10. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a pair of mating rectangular elbows, a connecting rod passing through the common axis of said elbows, about which they may relatively oscillate, a spring connecting said rod to one of said elbows, means for adjustably and rigidly securing said rod to the other elbow to adjust the tension of said spring to give said elbows a constant normal oscillatory bias in one direction, and means for limiting the 'degree of said oscillation.

11. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a tubular supporting member having a vertical axis and having an inclined bearing at its upper end and an inturned bearing at its lower end, a tubular swiveling member within said supporting member in engagement with said lower inturned bearing, and having an inclined shoulder bearing in engagement with the upper bearing of said supporting member.

In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a tubular supporting member having a vertical axis and having an inclined bearing at its upper end and an inturned bearing at its lower end, a tubular swiveling member extending through said supporting member in engagement with said lower-inturned bearing and having an inclined shoulder bearing in engagement with the upper bearing of said supporting memher, and means'for limiting the oscillations of said swiveling member within said supportin member.

13. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination, of a tubular. supporting member havin a vertical axis and having a horizontal el ow at its upper end, a tubular tone arm havingan elbow at' one end, said elbow in oscillatory engagement with the elbow on said supporting member, a con-' necting rod passing through said elbows in their common axis and rigidly, but adjustably secured to said supporting member whereby said tone arm may oscillate in a vertical plane, a spring, coiled about said rod and having one end secured thereto and its other end engaging said tone arm for giving said oscillating tone arm a constant normal upward bias.

14. In a tone arm for talking machines, the combination of a tubular supporting member having a vertical axis and having a horizontal elbow at its upper end, a tubular tone arm having an elbow at one end, said elbow in oscillatory engagement with the elbow on said supporting member, a connecting rod passing through said elbows'in their common axis and rigidly, but adjustably secured to said supporting member whereby said tone arm may oscillate in a 1 vertical plane, a spring coiled about said rod and having one end secured thereto and its other end engaging said tone arm for giving said oscillating tone arm a constant normal upward bias, and means for limiting the 20 degree of said oscillation.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and aflixed my seal this 6th day of November, 1915.,

. PLINY CATUCCI. [1,. 5.] In presence of L. M. SANDERS, F. L. GREEN. 

